Redemption
by gabs-magical-abs
Summary: Gabrielle goes against Xena's wishes and dumps her ashes.


**Redemption**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the rights to _Xena: Warrior Princess_. If I did, there would totally be a movie with Renee O'Connor, Lucy Lawless and Ewan McGregor.

**Subtext:** There is always subtext in every piece of literature, even the bad ones. If you're referring to the idea that Xena and Gabrielle are lovers, then yes. Yes they are.

"I don't care." She said. In one fluid motion, she turned from Xena and dumped the ashes into the spring.

"No, Gabrielle!" Xena yelled, but it was too late. The spring began to bubble furiously, echoing Xena's own anger. As the intensity increased, Xena began to fade away, until she was no longer there. A few minutes later, the water began to still itself.

Gabrielle held her breath, hoping that she hadn't been too late. She stared at the still water, willing Xena to immerge. "Xena, please don't leave me. I need you."

As she leaned over the pool, a single tear fell from her face and into the water, creating a small ripple as it hit. The water suddenly erupted as Xena's naked form burst from it, gasping for air.

"Xena." Gabrielle's face broke and she moved to embrace her.

Xena stepped back. "Don't touch me." She spat.

Gabrielle lowered her arms. "Xena, I did the right thing."

"No. No, you did what you did for your own selfish reasons, and now none of those souls will ever find grace."

"No, I saved you from being a pawn in Akemi's games. Xena, what makes you think you can trust her?"

"What makes you think we can't?"

"Xena, she has manipulated you and you can't even see it. Are you so blinded by your love for her that you can't see that all of this time she's just been using you?"

Xena scoffed. "So that's what this is about?"

Gabrielle's eyes narrowed. "What?"

"I thought you were better than that by now, Gabrielle. This is like Chin all over again."

"You're saying that I'm jealous?"

"It is certainly starting to sound like that."

"Don't insult me, Xena. This is about your blind faith in somebody who has lied to you and betrayed you. You had only her word to go on that you had to stay dead."

"And why would Akemi want me to stay dead?"

"Because that's the only way she can be with you, Xena! Can't you see that?"

"It doesn't matter. If she was right, you've just condemned 40000 souls! My life wasn't worth that risk."

"It is to me."

"Gabrielle – "

"No, Xena. I wasn't about to lose you just because she said you had to stay dead."

"What about the Greater Good? What about everything you taught me?"

"This is not the Greater Good, Xena, can't you see that? It isn't a path to your redemption either. Don't you remember what I told you, all those years ago when we first met Callisto? Vengeance is never the answer."

"I killed thousands of people, Gabrielle! How can I ever make up for that?"

"Xena, what happened was a terrible accident, caused by the townsfolk's own stupidity. What were you supposed to do when they attacked you? Let them kill you?"

"If it had saved 40 000 lives, then yes."

"What is wrong with you? You weren't the cause of their deaths! You need to let go of all of this guilt and torment you hold inside of you. When are you going to forgive yourself for what you've done? Surely you've done enough good in this world to outweigh your past mistakes."

"I don't deserve forgiveness."

"What makes you so different from Eve? Xena, you deserve forgiveness. Just like, believe it or not, you deserve my love."

"I really don't."

"You know, after what you pulled today, I'm almost starting to believe that. How could you treat me like that, Xena? How could you lock me out? I thought we were past that."

"I wanted to keep you safe."

"And what about what I wanted? I don't care what happens to me, as long as I'm by your side. Even if that means my death."

"I couldn't let you die, Gabrielle."

"And I couldn't let you stay dead – not when I had a chance to save you."

Xena reached out a hand and stroked Gabrielle's cheek. "I'm sorry. I guess I got so caught up in my own redemption and keeping you alive that I forgot about your wants. Guess I should've learnt by now."

Gabrielle smiled. "Old habits die hard. Does that mean you forgive me?"

Xena let out a sigh and stepped out of the spring. She drew Gabrielle in to her, and was instantly engulfed by her love. The warmth and comfort of Gabrielle's arms was making it so hard to stay mad at her. "I'm still angry, but nothing can be done about it now. Part of me is happy you saved me."

Gabrielle rubbed Xena's back, gently. "And the other part?" she whispered.

"The other part wonders how I am going to be able to live with myself if Akemi was right." Xena broke the embrace, but kept her arms on Gabrielle's.

"Xena, nothing good can come from vengeance. You know this. You've seen what people become when they seek it."

"Gabrielle, it's not that simple."

"Of course it is. Remember what I became with Gurkhan? I was prepared to throw away everything – my life, us, my values – just for vengeance. How could that ever be right?"

"Break the cycle through love, eh?" Xena smiled.

Gabrielle chuckled. "Only through love."

Xena moved towards Gabrielle, and their lips met in gentle forgiveness.

Gabrielle circled her arms around Xena's neck, and drew her down so their foreheads were touching. "You know, we should probably find you some clothes."

Xena grinned. "Funny you should say that. I was just thinking that you should probably lose yours."

_**A/N:**__ Like a lot of Xenites, I wasn't a fan of AFIN. Xena dying and staying dead was never the problem, but the reasoning behind it was just plain stupid. Alright, I can forgive the terrible plot. Xena rarely had good plots. I can deal with that. The two biggest problems were this: 1. The writers went against one of the most important themes of the show (the concept of vengeance) and 2. Gabrielle knew that what was going on was wrong. She stated it multiple times during the two episodes, but yet at the climax, she didn't do what Gabrielle would have done. She didn't dump the ashes. _


End file.
